"Gino Cumeezi." That was my name. Great grandson of the infamous and toothless "Gums" Cumeezi. A cross between Charlie Chaplin, Jack Kerouac, and Grand Central Station. I like to think of Gino as a subversive public fool. A comic outlaw. A provocateur to the max. Truly one of New Yawk's "finest."

It feels good to laugh once in a while. Everyone knows that. But laughter as a health-promoting exercise is not as widely practiced, despite the fact that scientists have long known about the potential healing effects of good humor.